'80s Trash: Humongous (1982)

Well, it sure is...big?  

Today's Film is Humongous, a 1982 Slasher Film with a slight twist.  Slight being the key word as there isn't much to distinguish this from many other Films from the time.  

This one came pretty shortly after the Subgenre hit it big.  Early followers like this stuck pretty damn closely to the formula, while the later ones got more creative (sometimes to their detriment).  The Plot involves an old crime, young people walking into a situation they know nothing about and a strange, ugly killer picking them off.  I feel like I've seen this Film before!  As it goes on, it gets more and more familiar.  

It comes to us from Paul Lynch, the man behind Prom Night (and a shedload of TV Episodes), as well as sharing the Writer to boot.  

Weird side note: the Cast includes a Janet (Julian) and a Janit (Baldwin).  

Is this a forgotten Horror Film that you should track down?  Is it something that is right to be forgotten?  To find out, read on...

A creepy man grabs a woman after she leaves a party and rapes her.  

Her dogs get loose and take care of him!

We now jump to 1982 and we meet a bunch of preppy 'teens' going to visit an Island during the Holidays.

They are pretty much a big bag of cliché characters- Nerdy Girl, Final Girl, Jerk Guy, Nice Guy, Dead Meat Guy.

Due to an accident in the fog (since they couldn't afford the Effects for a Storm), the boat is destroyed!

The group is stranded on an Island and, wouldn't you know, its the one from the beginning of the Film!

We get to long, drawn out 2nd Act now as the group wanders around, we get POV shots and not much happens, save for an off-screen death.

Yawn.

They eventually find out the truth: the woman who was raped at the beginning had a kid.  He grew up on the Island, killed the dogs (presumably new ones, mind you) and is now killing them.

If you want actual details for how any of that worked, look for a better Film.

The group is picked apart by the nameless creature until our Final Girl tries to trick him by pretending to be the Mother.

Hmm...familiar...

It leads to a battle of yelling and fire in the Boat Yard...and then onto the Docks.  They nearly have a 'Killer Survives and They All Die' Ending, but wuss out.

Instead, the creature/person falls onto a wooden spike and dies.  I guess she leaves.  The End.

A dark, disappointing chore.  

Right off the bat, let me reiterate my main point- this Movie is generic.  Even in 1982, there wasn't much special about this one.  

Generic Characters.  

Generic Slasher Plot.  

Generic Horror Film Location.  

If it was just that, I'd be less disappointed.  I've liked Films that didn't 'break the mold,' but did their stuff well.  In this case, they don't.  I don't care much about any of the Characters.  The Action is too little and too disappointing.  

The biggest problem- the Lighting.  They clearly realized just how bad this creature looked, so they just never showed it much.  The way they did it was work in a line about the power being out, so no lights worked inside at night.  

The end result- shots like the one below.  

It should be dramatic.  It should be interesting.  Instead, it is just grunting and cracking noises in silhouette.  The most dramatic part of the Film is barely visible! 

 On top of that, the Pacing is off and the kills come in all sorts of random order.  Two at once- why not?  Random one right before the end- sure!  There's clearly a formula to this kind of Film...and they just don't quite nail it here.  

Humongous is a, well, big disappointment.  Sorry, I couldn't think of a word other than 'big' to describe something of that size.  

Seriously, make out what is happening here...

Next up, I have two different Films about people being driven crazy by Films.  Decisions, decisions.  Stay tuned...